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  ONLY THE STRONGEST SURVIVE

  by

  Ian Fox

  SMASHWORDS EDITION

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  PUBLISHED BY:

  Ian Fox

  Only the Strongest Survive

  Copyright 2011 by Ian Fox

  Smashwords Edition License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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  Chapter 1

  _________________________

  Emely Donnovan, the CEO of Donnovan Corporation, slipped out of her black Porsche Carrera GT sports car and hurried to the entrance of the office building. “Here are the keys, Mr. Kruger,” she said to the porter. “The usual space, please.”

  “Of course, ma’am, as always, Ms. Donnovan,” the doorman said while inhaling the alluring perfume wafting far behind her. His eyes followed the rhythmic sway of the hips and her perfect figure. She was wearing an elegant light-blue pantsuit, and the very high heels on her shoes added additional charm to her appearance.

  Emely was a slender woman of forty-nine, with reddish-brown, curly hair and lively eyes. Her facial features were beautiful and symmetrical, but her domineering behavior often made men feel awkward. She was highly intelligent, fearless, and stubborn.

  Emely’s regular day started at six, when she would twist her body every which way to some of the latest dance music. She had her morning aerobics to thank for her toned, shapely thighs, pert behind, and firm breasts. Twice a week she also visited a fitness club owned by the Donnovan Corporation, to maintain her strength and flexibility.

  Emely Donnovan owned 42 percent of Donnovan Corporation. As the CEO she had called a special meeting of the executive board for this morning.

  When she entered a large meeting room on the eighth floor, the other board members were already in their seats around the big, oval table, and got up as soon as they saw her.

  “Morning, everyone.”

  The staff, calling her by her first name, returned the deep-voiced greeting.

  “Today’s meeting will be very brief,” Emely said, taking her place at the head of the table. She opened her leather-bound pad and placed on it the fountain pen she had been given by one of her Arab business partners. Leaning into her high-backed leather chair, she cast a quick look around as if to make sure that everything was in its proper place. Meanwhile her elegantly manicured nails on her right hand drummed on the table a couple of times. “You all know Gigany International, the pharmaceutical company, which has a 40 percent share of the American market. I’ve heard from reliable sources that the company is in serious financial trouble.”

  All those present were aware that “reliable sources” meant industrial espionage and other questionable means of obtaining information, so no one doubted the truthfulness of what she said.

  “They are primarily involved in the manufacture of medications and other pharmaceutical products. I believe the company is potentially stable, but needs fundamental restructuring of its management. A week ago you received their balance sheet, income statement, and other financial reports for the last five years.” She stopped for a few moments to assess the concentration of the board members.

  “Our aim is to take over the company using the following strategy: In the next two weeks we will buy up the highest possible number of shares, gaining at least a 35 percent ownership right. Because I know that due to their financial difficulties they will soon put another ten thousand series D shares up for sale, we will also buy those and become a majority holder with at least a 51 percent stake.”

  She straightened in the leather armchair, took a deep breath, and went on: “I propose we take a vote on the takeover of Gigany International.” Her bright eyes scanned the room once more. “Who’s in favor?”

  Some board members raised their hands. The CEO assessed the state of affairs with a single glance. “Seven in favor, four against. I conclude that the proposal has been accepted.”

  Blake Crouse, the board member responsible for legal matters, the head of the legal department, and owner of a 12 percent share of Donnovan Corporation, had voted against it. To him, a vote in favor indicated that money and power were all that mattered, that no one cared about the damage caused. Numerous financial studies had been done, but no one asked how many years and how much effort had been invested by the current owners into the development of the company that just happened to get into trouble. By his account, the Donnovan Corporation already had enough enemies because of their greed.

  Emely placed her hands on the oval cherry wood table as a sign that the meeting was concluded. “That’s all for today. Thank you for coming.” She looked around, pushed back the heavy chair, and set off toward the door.

  “Mr. Kruger,” she said into her cell phone, “my car, please. I’ll be down in a couple of minutes.”

  She went to her office and gazed at the huge aquarium on the right, beside the door. The colorful fish and the rich greenery always filled her with calm. Her huge, classy office had a lush array of tropical plants. The early morning sunshine pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows reflected off the leaves.

  She sat at her desk, took a few breaths, and called her stockbroker. “Please announce our intention of buying the shares of Gigany International at a suitable market price. Then begin buying. We aim to acquire a 35 percent share. Have I made myself sufficiently clear?”

  “Of course.”

  “OK, start immediately.”

  She put down the receiver, raised her eyebrows, and did a mental check that everything was as it should be. Her motto was: “Only the strongest survive.” It’s the law of nature, she thought. If God had wanted equality and justice, he would have made it so. She got up and went to the elevator.

  Emely felt good, driving with a smile on her face, along the wide avenues of the Chicago suburbs, glancing at the various buildings. She had moved to the largest city in Illinois because of the rapid growth of her company and because Chicago, as the third most populous city in the States, offered her numerous business opportunities.

  Just over twenty minutes later she reached the highway leading to Rockford, where she was meeting a realtor. While she was mentally drawing up her negotiating strategy, a black truck suddenly appeared in front of her. It cut in so quickly she had to jam her foot on the brake pedal in order to avoid smashing into the truck. Emely blasted her horn at the driver.

  She needed to move to the outside lane to overtake the truck. As soon as she turned on the left turn signal, another truck appeared on her left, also black, stopping her from changing lanes. She waited patiently for the vehicle to go past. She kept looking ahead and to her left, gripping the steering wheel.

  It seemed as if the two transport vehicles were connected in some way. They were both gradually slowing down. Emely lost patience. She hit the steering wheel and blew five longs blasts on the horn.

  The two black masses were slowing down, moving toward the hard shoulder. She felt trapped. She was forced to play their game.

  Suddenly she noticed that both trucks had their right turn signals on. The two vehicles were slowing down and so was she.

  When her car stopped completely, she opened the door and got out. “What the hell?”

  Since she was fearless and decisive by nature, the thought of being in danger never crossed her mind.

  Two masked men wearing b
lack coveralls jumped out of the backs of the trucks. She realized immediately the fix she was in and ran back toward her car. After only a couple of steps she felt a hand grab her neck and she cried out in pain, “Who are you? What … do you want from me? Help!”

  However much Emely shouted, no one could hear her. The noise on the highway was so loud due to the heavy traffic that her desperate cries for help carried only a few yards. The man holding her by the neck took no notice of her screams. With his other hand he lifted her like a feather and carried her to his truck.

  She resisted with all her strength, trying to free herself, kicking her legs in all directions. The other man immediately came to help the first and grabbed her hands. He took two pairs of restraints from his pocket and first fastened her hands and then her ankles.

  As planned, they put the corporate CEO in the back of the truck and slammed the heavy door. Emely lay helplessly on some damp cardboard, trying to get out of the restraints that were stopping her from getting up. She looked around in the darkness and saw numerous stacks of empty boxes.

  Oh no, this can’t be true, she thought. I’m being kidnapped and now they’ll ask for a huge ransom.

  The two vehicles set off, turned off their turn signals, and continued on their way as if nothing had happened.

  *

  She had a feeling they were driving forever. At least four hours, she guessed. After a while she began to be thrown about more. She felt that they must have turned onto a dirt road. In spite of the cardboard on which she lay, she was getting bruised because of all the shaking. After what was probably about twenty more minutes, the truck stopped. Her heart began to beat faster.

  One of the men opened the door and jumped up. He was holding something black in his hand.

  On seeing a mask covering his face, Emely shuddered. She began thrashing around so much that she hit the floor with her head a number of times.

  “Keep still, lady, or you’ll only make it worse,” he warned her. He put the blindfold over her eyes, lifted her, and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

  “Let me go! Please!” she shouted. Tears came to her eyes. “I’ll pay you as much as you want.”

  “Of course you will. When the time’s right.”

  “How much? I’ll dial a number and in an hour you’ll have the cash. Just let me go.”

  He went up some stairs and opened a door. The helpless Emely was still folded over his right shoulder.

  “Let me go!”

  “We’re not interested in money,” he said.

  He opened the door to a room and placed her on a metal bed.

  “So what do you want? Tell me, please.”

  The man took no notice of her questions. He slowly removed the restraint from her left hand and fastened her right wrist to the metal frame of the bed. Then he did the same with her ankle, only this time he fastened her left leg.

  “Why don’t you answer? Please, tell me what you want from me,” she said in a more demanding tone.

  She felt a prick in her right arm and realized she must have been given a sedative.

  “Why? No, please … stop!” she shouted as loud as she could.

  As if unable to hear her, the man took off her shoes and put a soft pillow under her head. She could feel a cold hand slip under her top and grab her breast. This was so unexpected that she stopped breathing for a moment. Oh no, I’ll be raped! Her heart was beating like crazy. She was completely numb.

  Then she felt his hand between her legs. “Please, let me go!” Tears were streaming from her eyes.

  The man wiped her tears with a finger, laughed in a vulgar tone, and closed the door behind him.

  *

  “Good morning, Ms. Donnovan.”

  She jerked as if she had received a jolt of electricity. She had slept like a log.

  “What do you want from me?” she asked fearlessly. Her head was throbbing and she was parched. As she could not see anything, she opened and closed her eyes a few times and then remembered she was blindfolded.

  “Let me introduce myself. My name is Ronald Langdon and this is my brother, John.”

  She frowned, trying to remember where she knew their names from.

  The man deliberately waited a while and then said, “I see our names don’t mean anything to you. What about the company, Spark Sports?”

  She remembered instantly. She took such a deep breath that a sharp whistle emerged from her lungs.

  “It’s been nearly nine years since you took over our company,” Ronald said.

  She remembered it well. It had been a wonderful financial opportunity that was impossible to resist.

  “Over thirty years ago our father opened a large store specializing in sports equipment. The store was so successful that soon he opened another one on the West Coast. Within a few years he became the owner of a chain of stores around the country,” Ronald said. He paused, letting her think for a few moments. “Due to the company’s fast growth and an urgent need for new capital, its structure had to change. My father turned it into a joint stock company and as the CEO he kept a 40 percent share, putting the other 60 percent on the market. That is how he acquired capital.”

  Emely was listening carefully. She knew exactly where this was leading and it made her feel sick.

  “A sudden accident in which our father died put me and my brother at the head of the company.” He looked at his brother with a proud smile. “We led it successfully for five years.”

  John, who was standing near him, added sharply, “Until we invested in a megalomaniac franchise, which turned out to bring nothing but loss. Our company got into serious trouble.”

  Ronald said, “We needed an enormous financial loan. We asked a number of banks, but none of them would lend us anything. There was nothing else to do but put a number of series B shares on the market.”

  Emely’s throat tightened. She wanted to say something in her defense but was unable.

  Ronald stepped toward her and told her with reproach in his voice, “And then you turned up. At an incredible speed you began to buy all the shares that were on the market, regardless of the price.”

  She could feel and smell his bad breath and had to hold her own breath.

  “Within three weeks you bought most of the shares and became the majority holder!” He was shouting now, spraying saliva over her face.

  “That’s how the market works,” she said, hissing. “Everyone has the right to buy shares—”

  “You weren’t satisfied with your own company,” Ronald said. “You wanted more and more. Later we found out it was your slander that had stopped banks from giving us a loan.”

  “But you retained your share,” she said in her defense. “You did sell it later, but—”

  “Yes, we had the right to vote, but you took on the leadership. Of our company.”

  “Which is still doing good business,” she had to add.

  “You took something our family had struggled for. What right did you have?”

  Emely was losing her temper. “But that’s how the stock market works. The strongest wins. Everyone has to fight.”

  “What you’re trying to say is that it’s like nature. Only the strongest survive.”

  Emely did not know how to respond.

  Ronald’s face and neck glowed a deep pink. He said, “I’m afraid you won’t survive, Ms. Donnovan.”

  She shuddered. Emely wanted to say something, but because of the huge lump in her throat all that came out was a mumble.

  Ronald moved away slightly. “We didn’t want to work for you so we sold the shares. We bought a small computer hardware company. Because of the strong competition and speculation over software licenses we had to shut it down after three years.”

  John said, “And so we were left with nothing. Because of you.”

  “But you didn’t have to sell the shares of Spark Sports,” she said, defending herself like a child.

  “Shut up. How dare you talk to me like that? The fact i
s that if you hadn’t turned up with your greed, Spark Sports would still belong to us.”

  “But—”

  “No buts. There’s no excuse for what you did.”

  “What do you want from me?” Emely asked, sobbing. Only now did it occur to her that she was in serious trouble.

  “What we’re still able to take from you,” John said coldly. “Your life.”

  “Use your head. We can come to a deal. I’ll pay you as much as you want.”

  Both men laughed loudly and their laughter reverberated around Emely’s head for a long time after they had left. When she was sure that they were gone, she started crying and trembling with fear.

  *

  The same afternoon, John entered her room.

  “I’ve come to accompany you to the bathroom. You’ve got exactly ten minutes to do whatever you need to. Have I made myself clear?”

  She nodded humbly.

  John undid the restraints, took her by the hand, and led her down a long corridor to a small windowless room.

  When he closed the door, she removed the blindfold and had a long drink of water. Her neck was hurting and she quickly massaged it. Then she used the toilet and splashed her face with cold water in order to help her think more clearly. I must find a solution, she thought. There’s always a solution. She sat on the toilet cover and put her head in her hands. Ronald Langdon is a very principled but revengeful guy. His brother John seems different. He’s the one who felt me up yesterday. I may be able to persuade him. She lifted her head slightly and looked around. The purple-rimmed tiles were dirty and the shower cubicle also in bad shape.

  Through the small keyhole she could see a pulsating light. Intrigued, she leaned forward and looked into the keyhole. Oh no, it can’t be. He’s watching me use the toilet.